


I'll Always Be Here For You

by tonysleatherjacket



Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-21
Packaged: 2018-10-18 22:28:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10626414
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tonysleatherjacket/pseuds/tonysleatherjacket
Summary: Two months have gone by since the aftermath of Hannah's death, and no matter what, Tony will always be there for Clay.





	1. Chapter 1

Clay has his hands loosely wrapped around the chains of the swing-set, lightly pushing himself backwards and forwards as he stares down at the ground. He hears the familiar sound of a car engine, a mustang to be exact, and looks up.

There is Tony; in his beautiful red car, the sound of music drifting softly into the quiet atmosphere. He kills the engine and opens the door, walking around the car and stops at the entrance of the park. His dark hair is gelled up like usual, and he's clad in his black leather jacket. It makes Clay feel the tiniest bit nostalgic, like the times before when he was listening to the tapes, and Tony had come to check up on him. It was January now; the end of winter break, about two months since everything that had happened surrounding Hannah's death, which was a lot, to say the least. The confession tape had been released, though none of the others. Bryce had gone to jail, and Tyler was currently in a mental hospital; seeing as how he had apparently had plans for a school shooting after his parents had found a chest of guns in his room, along with the pictures of everyone on the tapes and a few other jocks as well. Mr. Porter resigned from his job quietly, no one ever knowing why exactly, well except for _some_ people. Sheri had gotten community service after she confessed to knocking down the stop sign, seeing as how she had no other prior offenses and it was a complete accident. The Bakers had decided not to tell anyone about the tapes. All they had wanted was answers, and the tapes had given them that. Olivia Baker had thought about what Clay's mom had said once; how she didn't think any amount of money would suffice, if she had lost her son. Two hundred thousand dollars or zero dollars, it didn't matter. Her son would still be gone. So, they dropped the lawsuit. The Bakers had wanted justice, but they realized there would be no greater justice than for those that were on the tapes, to live the rest of their lives knowing that they had each had a hand in Hannah's decision to end her life. 

Alex had survived, and he was still at home every day, slowly recovering. Clay visited every now and then. Justin was always there. He seemed different somehow; eyes permanently sad and sunken in, never frowning but also never smiling. He worried about him, wanted to comfort him in some way. He knew Jessica had never forgiven him, and how could she? But Clay never knew what to say to him, and there was so much bad stuff between them, he figured the best thing either of them could do was to not talk to each other. And Justin seemed okay enough, anyhow, with both of Alex's parents watching over him. 

Clay had begun to see less and less of Tony, which was why he was so surprised to see him now. He was always at the shop or hanging out with his boyfriend, Brad. Clay knew that they had only recently become friends again, but he thought that with everything that had happened between them, they would still continue to be friends. Clay spent most of his time alone in his room, except for the few times he hung out with Skye; but she was busy usually, either working or at the school studio where she sculpted incredible things. He was glad to have her back in his life again, but he found himself still missing Tony. He didn't know why. 

"Hey, Clay." Tony says simply, walking into the park. 

"Hi." He says back, offering a small smile. 

Tony sits on the swing next to him. They're both silent for a few moments, the only sound audible is the creaking of the swings as they gently swing back and forth, looking out as the sun is setting.

"How have you been?" Tony asks, finally breaking the awkward silence, and Clay can feel his eyes on him. 

"Fine. I guess." He shrugs. 

"I wanted...to give you some space. You know, after you finished the tapes. Let you deal with things your own way."

So that would explain why he hadn't seen Tony around much. Maybe it wasn't because he'd figured out what a total loser Clay was, and remember why he'd stopped hanging out with him in the first place. 

"But...you're here with me now." Clay says slowly. 

"I will  _always_ be here for you. I just thought it was best to leave you be for awhile."

"I thought that..." Clay pauses. "I thought you'd only been hanging around me because of Hannah. You'd wanted to make sure I was listening to the tapes."

Tony shakes his head, frowning. "No, I mean yes, that is what I was doing. But that wasn't the only reason, Clay. I mean, didn't you notice how  _much_ I was hanging around you? I didn't do that with any of the other guys."

Clay frowns in confusion. "So, what was the main reason then?"

"I care about you, Clay. I like you."

Clay feels his cheeks heat up as he blushes. "You  _like_ me?" He asks, and it sort of comes out like a squeak. 

"As a friend..." Tony answers, "like, you know...a human being. I like you as a human being."

He doesn't know why, but Clay feels almost disappointed somehow. "I didn't know you actually cared." He says quietly, looking down at his feet, not wanting to meet Tony's gaze. "I thought it was only because of Hannah."

"I really do care about you, Clay. So much."

He doesn't know what to say at first. He eventually looks up at Tony, and the way his lips are turned down in a slight frown. 

So Tony speaks again. "When you listened to your tape...stood on the edge of that cliff...I didn't know  _what_ you were going to do. I was so scared. I wouldn't have been able to handle it, if I had let two people I cared about just...die."

"But you said I wouldn't have." Clay says. "You said if I had fallen climbing, I'd just get pretty banged up. That I wouldn't die."

"But I wasn't sure. You could have...twisted your neck or something, you  _could_ have died. But I knew you wouldn't fall. I wouldn't have let you."

Clay has to look down again, all kinds of emotions swelling up inside of him. He didn't think anyone cared about him that much. Except maybe his parents, but they didn't really count, they  _had_ to care about him. 

"You don't...feel that way anymore though, right?" Tony asks. "You don't want to hurt yourself?"

He swallows hard, hating the desperation and concern in his voice. He's betting Tony has those big brown puppy dog eyes right now. 

"Maybe I still do. Sometimes." 

He feels Tony's fingers brush up against his own, and he shivers. Then his fingers go up a little farther, clutching the chain of the swing as he pulls Clay closer to him and he's forced to look at him again. Tony looks at him with somewhat of an unreadable expression, eyebrows slightly furrowed and lips parted. "Clay, I care about you so much, okay? I don't want you to ever hurt yourself. If you feel like you might, call me. I will always be here for you."

Clay huffs. "But why  _now_ , Tony? I mean...we used to be pretty good friends...and then you suddenly just stopped talking to me. We stopped hanging out. Did I do something wrong?"

"God, no." Tony says, and there's a slight sadness to his words. Maybe even panic. He doesn't let go of the chain, so they're still sitting close together. "Clay, I...I was embarrassed."

"About what?" It was hard to imagine Tony Padilla being embarrassed about anything. He had always seemed so cool and collected, much cooler than Clay was. 

"I..." Tony pauses, like he's debating what to say. He stares at Clay with a worried look. "I had a crush on you."

 


	2. Chapter 2

Clay blinks, not sure he's heard him right. Tony had a crush on  _him_? The loser who was good at school and was impossibly clumsy? As if. 

"Sorry, you  _what_?"

He can tell Tony's anxious and nervous; the way he licks his lips, his worried gaze. "I knew you were straight." He says. "It was just a dumb crush...but I was scared you'd find out. I wasn't even out to  _anyone_ yet, I'd just wrapped my head around the fact that I was gay myself. I thought if I put distance between us, I'd get over you." Tony lets go of the chain, and Clay swings back to the side. He pushes his feet into the gravel so that he comes to a stop. Tony seriously had a crush on him? How could he not have known this? He really must have been as oblivious as everyone thought. 

"But we never became friends again. We talked every once in awhile, but we were always just acquaintances at best. That is...until the tapes."

Tony stays quiet for a moment, staring down at his feet like suddenly his shoes are the most interesting thing in the world. Clay's mind is still going a mile a minute, trying to process the fact that his former best friend had had a crush on him. He thought back to freshman year, when they'd been close. Tony had just moved to town eighth grade year, but they hadn't really become friends until the summer after.

It had been late in July, and Clay had come to the movies with a girl in his grade. He didn't really like her, but he'd been set up with her by their parents so he was forced to come. She kept talking about astronomy, which Clay was interested in, but she talked so fast he could hardly understand her, and he couldn't get a word in because she wouldn't stop talking, not even for a second. The lights had dimmed, and the movie trailers started playing, so he thought she'd finally quit talking, but she hadn't. Then he saw Tony come in with his family, all 4 siblings and two parents; a bustle of loud laughs and smiles. Clay couldn't even imagine what that must have been like, he'd always been an only child. Tony seemed to have felt a pair of eyes on him, even through the mostly dark theater, and he glanced in his direction as he followed his family to an empty row of seats not far from Clay and his date. Tony smiled slightly and sat down next to his sister. 

Halfway through the movie, long after his date had finally stopped jabbering, he decided he would go get some candy. He quietly excused himself and walked out of the theater, heading towards the concession stand. He stared up at the menu, wondering what to buy when he heard a voice behind him say, "They seriously sell Tootsie Rolls? Those are without a doubt the most disgusting candy ever made." 

He turns around and sees Tony. They'd had a class or two together the past school year, but had only ever talked to each other a handful of times. "It's chocolate." Clay said. "Nothing ever tastes bad if it has chocolate in it."

Tony laughed, brown eyes twinkling. " _Anything_ can taste bad, even if it's chocolate." 

The person in front of Clay takes his popcorn. He walked up to the counter and said, "Can I get a jumbo Tootsie Roll, please?" He hears Tony laugh behind him. Clay pulls out a wadded five dollar bill and accepts the change, taking the chocolate. He turns to Tony and rips the top of the wrapper open, taking a bite. Tony wrinkles his nose, trying to look disgusted, but he's also smiling. "Mmmm," said Clay, "you really can't go wrong with chocolate."

"That is so disgusting, Jensen."

Clay just smiled wide. "You're next in line. I recommend getting a Tootsie Roll, it's really quite good."

Tony just shook his head as Clay went to join his date.

After that night of the movie theater, he texted his friend Skye, asking if she knew a Tony Padilla. She gave him his phone number, and sent a text that said something like 'Do you not like chocolate, or is it just Tootsie Rolls you choose to hate on?'. They texted back and forth for awhile, and by the start of the following school year, they were inseparable. 

"Clay," Tony starts, bringing him back to the here and now. "I didn't...I didn't know how to start talking to you again. I was afraid you wouldn't want to be friends with me again. That you were mad that I had stopped talking to you."

"And why wouldn't I have been mad, Tony?" Clay asks incredulously. "You were my best friend and you just...left! And you did it again! You thought I needed time by myself? After the girl I loved  _died?_ You should have been there for me." Clay blinks back tears, fuming, grossing his arms and glaring into the distance. 

"I'm so sorry, Clay. I thought I was doing the right thing."

"Bullshit, Tony!"

Tony sighs. "Okay, okay, fine. You're right."

Clay sneaks a glance at him, watching as Tony is gripping the chains of the swing so hard he's sure it's hurting his hands. "I am?"

"Being around you again....I think, I think all of the old feelings I had for you just started coming back. I didn't know what to do, so I left,  _again._ I mean, you might've been cool with me being gay, but I didn't think you'd be as cool with it if you knew I had feelings for you."

Clay stutters and fumbles over his words, "You, uh? Still, um, like...me?". What did he even see in Clay? Didn't he realize he could do so much better? Didn't he  _have_ someone better? Brad was a knockout. 

"I understand if you don't want to be friends with me anymore." Tony says shamefully. 

"Tony, of course I still want to be friends with you! Don't be an idiot!"

Tony grins, staring at Clay in disbelief. "You do?"

"Well, duh!"

Clay pats Tony on the shoulder. "Oh, and by the way, I'm not straight."

He gets up off the swing, stretching, as he'd been sitting down for so long. "My mom's cooking pasta for dinner, you wanna come over?"

 


	3. Chapter 3

Tony stares at him, dumbfounded, and Clay has the urge to start laughing but he doesn't, just smiles innocently as he waits for Tony to do or say something. 

"Uh...ok. Sure. I'll come over."

Tony offers to let him ride with him, and Clay accepts so he puts Clay's bike in the trunk of his car and they sit through the whole ride in silence. 

"Hey mom, I'm home!" Clay yells as they walk through the front door.

"Honey, would you mind setting the table? Dinner's almost ready."

"Not a problem. Is it okay if Tony stays for dinner?" Clay asks, getting a handful of silverware out.

"Of course not." His mom says, wiping her hands on her apron. "Hello Tony, how are you dear?"

"Good, thank you for having me over Ms. Jensen, and you?" Tony asks, fidgeting and swinging his hands a little, obviously still slightly embarrassed and awkward after Clay's upfront confession. 

"I'm good, thank you."

Tony stands by the counter as Clay heads to the dining room, since their kitchen table will be too small for the four of them. 

"Tony, good to see you around here again!" Clay's dad says as he enters the kitchen and kisses his wife on the cheek.

"You too Mr. Jensen."

In a few minutes, they're all seated at the table as they begin to eat.

"The food's lovely."

Clay's mom smiles warmly. "Thank you, Tony."

Everyone's quiet for a few minutes, the only sound is the scraping of silverware on plates. Clay keeps sneaking glances at Tony but either he's ignoring them or just doesn't seem to notice his constant staring. He's trying to figure out what he's thinking. Is he surprised by what Clay said? Is he glad? 

"So, you boys ready to go back to school?" Clay's dad asks.

"I was glad to get time off from school, but my dad's been keeping me busy at the shop, so I gotta say I'm looking forward to going back." Tony laughs as Clay's parents talk about how impressed they are with Tony's mechanic skills. Clay is glad there's no attention on him, as he continues to stare at Tony, watching as his eyes twinkle and his lips are stretched out wide in a smile. He was actually kind of cute. Really cute. Clay was surprised he hadn't noticed just how cute he was before. Did Tony think he was cute too?

"Clay? Clay, honey?" Clay snaps out of his daze, cheeks heating up as he notices everyone at the table staring at him. He realizes Tony is now smirking at him, trying to hold back from laughing.

"Uh, what?" He asks stupidly.

"Your mother was just asking you if you ever thought about working at the shop with Tony. We understand why you wanted to quit working at the theater." His dad stares at him expectantly. 

"Um...I don't know, I never really considered it."

"We could really use the extra help." Tony says, smiling brightly. 

"I, uh, don't really know much about...cars. Mechanics. Not my thing."

"I'd show you the basics. You'd get the hang of it." 

"I...I'll think about it." Clay looks down at his food, embarrassed he'd been staring at Tony. 

Once they all finish eating, Clay brings the empty plates to the kitchen, setting them down in the sink and rinsing them. He hears footsteps, and looks to see Tony entering the room. "I didn't mean to put you on the spot. It's okay if you don't want to work at the shop."

"I'll think about it." Clay shrugs, turning off the water. 

Tony nods. "Well...thanks for dinner." He's intentionally avoiding meeting Clay's gaze. "I'll see you around."

"Wait. We can...go up to my room or something? If you want?"

"Okay. Sure."

"Tony and I are going up to my room!" Clay yells to his parents as he and Tony head for the stairs.

"Door stays open!" His mom yells back, much to his embarrassment.

They walk into his bedroom and Clay shuts the door, ignoring his parents "open door policy". Tony goes over to his stack of books, looking through them.

"So, uh..." He really isn't sure what to say. "About what I said earlier."

Tony looks up at him, waiting for what he's going to say next. "I've never...you're the first person I've told."

Tony looks confused, like he can't possibly know what Clay is referring to. "No one else knows I'm...bi."

He nods. "I won't tell anyone, obviously."

"Thanks." Clay takes a seat on his bed. "Those gay rumors about me...they weren't just rumors."

Tony stands up, walking closer to him but not sitting down next to him.

"It was the summer before seventh grade, right before you moved to town. I actually used to be popular, believe it or not." Clay laughs. "It was a couple weeks before school started and I was hanging out with Justin Foley, it was just the two of us. I kissed him...and he kissed me back. But...then he told everyone about it. Everyone was talking about me, saying I was gay like it was...a bad thing. Justin Foley hated me. They all hated me."

Tony furrows his brows, a sincere expression on his face. He sits down on the bed a puts a hand on his shoulder to comfort him as Clay continues. "I tried to push those feelings away. I knew I liked girls too. I was scared that...if people knew I _seriously_ liked boys, that what Justin told everyone wasn't just some lame rumor, no girl would ever date me. They'd assume I was just trying to force myself to like girls. And I thought it was better to make everyone think I was straight instead of gay." 

Tony rubs his thumb in circles on his shoulder. "Thank you for telling me all this."

"Ever since then...I've tried to hide my attraction to guys...pretend maybe it was just me wanting to experiment or something...but," Clay's eyes drift towards Tony's lips. He can feel his breathe on him, they're sitting so close. Tony's lips are plump and pink, slightly parted. He wants to kiss them. He leans a little closer, closer, closer, till he's inches away from them, and Tony's not backing away, just sitting very still and breathing hard. Clay's about to close the distance between them, until there's a sudden knock on the door, and he shoots away from Tony so fast he nearly falls off the bed. 

"What did I say about closing this door?" He hears his dad say, and Clay is sure his face has never felt hotter. 


	4. Chapter 4

"Sorry, dad." Clay says as his dad opens the door, looking between him and Tony suspiciously. Clay scratches the back of his neck awkwardly, trying not to look over at Tony. What in the hell was he thinking?! Was he seriously just about to kiss him?

"This door," his dad says, one hand still on the knob, "stays open." Clay nods furiously and his dad gives him a stern look before pushing the door all the way open and then leaving.

"So..." Clay starts, totally mortified. He wonders what would have happened if his dad hadn't barged in; would Clay have actually kissed him? Would Tony have let him? Would he have kissed him back?

"I really think I ought to be leaving now." Tony says quickly, standing up. He wipes his hands on his jeans and stares at Clay for a second, a slight blush on his cheeks and still that irresistible twinkle in his dark eyes. "I'll give you a ride to school Monday?" He doesn't even wait for an answer, just bolts out the door, leaving Clay alone with his mind and heart buzzing with what had just happened. What he almost did. 

 

-

 

Four days. Clay hasn't heard from Tony in four days. He debated whether or not he should've called him or sent a text, but he had decided against it. Because what would he even had said? 'Sorry I almost kissed you, still friends?' 

It's Monday morning now, and Clay sits anxiously at his doorstep. Was Tony even going to pick him up? Maybe he'd forgotten his offer, or decided he didn't want to face him now. Maybe he should just get his bike and leave now, so he isn't late for school. Clay doesn't know how long he sits there debating what he should do, maybe a few minutes or just a few seconds, but when he looks up from his lap, Tony's sitting in his car right in front of him. He can't believe he'd been so zoned out he hadn't heard him pull up. He picks his bag up and walks around to the passenger side. 

"Hey, Clay." Tony says as he opens the door, putting his backpack on the floorboard and sliding into the leather seat.

Clay has trouble looking at him. "Tony." He says quietly.

Neither of them say anything else for the next ten minutes, but then Clay eventually can't stand the silence any longer. "About the other night..."

But Tony cuts him off before he can say anything more, "I have a boyfriend."

"I  _know_." Clay says. 

"So...we can't...Don't try anything like that ever again." Tony says seriously, almost angrily. Clay scoots down farther in his seat, feeling overly embarrassed and his cheeks blazing. Of course. Of course Tony wouldn't have actually kissed him. He had Brad, and Tony might've previously had a crush on him, but honestly, what was he compared to Brad? He was nothing. There wasn't any competition. Tony was more than likely already over his silly little crush on Clay. 

" _Please_." Tony says in a softer voice. Practically begging Clay.

"Uh, yeah...okay. I'm sorry, Tony. I don't know what I was thinking."

They pull into the school parking lot. "Listen Clay, I'm happy you were comfortable enough to come out to me, and I'll always be here if you ever need anyone to talk to about it, or anything, but I'm dating Brad right now."

If he had a dollar for every time he felt exceptionally embarrassed, the kind of embarrassed where you just want to curl up and  _die_ , Clay would be rich by now. "Ok. Got it. Thanks." 

They pull into Tony's parking spot and he turns the car off. "I'll give you a ride home, if you want?"

"Sure. Thanks, Tony." Clay quickly gets out of the car and heads inside the building, not waiting to see if Tony wants to walk in with him. 

"Clay!" Courtney yells at him from the other side of the crowded hallway. She rushes to him, two kids following her. "Clay, we're supposed to give these kids tours of the school, it's their first day."

Oh. Right. He kept forgetting he was on the school's welcome committee this year. 

"I'll take Rebecca, and you can take Ethan. And  _stick_ to our usual script." She gives him a stern glare, obviously referring to his little freak out the last time they had to show some new kids around. 

"Yeah, okay." He nods and Courtney takes off with Rebecca in tow. He hadn't seen much of Courtney lately, but after he'd finished the tapes she came clean about what had happened with her and Hannah, and she was out to pretty much everyone now. She seemed much happier, and more content and comfortable with herself. Clay still regretted what he had said to her that day at the graveyard. How he'd given her so much grief about lying to everyone about who she was, when in reality Clay was doing the exact same thing. He noticed jocks making gross comments to her every now and then, but not many people seemed to care she was gay. She'd even become good friends with Ryan, and maybe that was part of the reason. No one messed with Ryan because they knew he could get some dirt on you and publish it for the whole world to see. That meant his friends included. 

He turns back to the other new kid, Ethan, who's standing by him with a nervous look on his face, clad in a flannel shirt under a denim jacket and plain jeans. "Lemme see your schedule." Clay asks.

Ethan reaches a hand out, and Clay takes the slightly crumpled white sheet of paper, looking it over. "We have first period together. And seventh. Come on, I'll show you around and then we'll go to class."

Ethan nods, seeming to relax some, and follows. It takes them about ten minutes to make their way around the whole school, Clay pointing to various places and saying what classes they were for. "You'll settle in just fine." 

The new boy smiles at him, dimples and all. "Thanks for showing me around."

"No problem." 

"Hey...when we passed by the journalism classroom..."

Clay looks over at Ethan as they walk to first period. "Yeah?"

"That boy. The one bossing everyone around."

He laughs. "Yeah, that's Ryan."

"Sorry to be so upfront, but do you know if he's got a boyfriend?"

Clay almost chokes. "I'm not sure Ryan's the kind of boyfriend you want. Trust me, there's better gay guys around here than him."

Ethan smiles at him with that million dollar smile again. "Uh-huh, like you?"

Clay blushes like mad. "I..."

The second bell rings. "Come on, we should hurry to class." he says, thankful for the excuse to dodge Ethan's flirtatious comment, and picks up the pace. 


	5. Chapter 5

When the last bell of the day rang, he was anxious to leave. Tony had said he would give him a ride home and despite his unusually cold attitude this morning, Clay had felt himself longing to see him again all day. He knew it was ridiculous; Tony had a boyfriend anyway. But maybe these sudden feelings; like where when he's around Tony his palms start to sweat and he feels the urge to kiss his impossibly pink lips, didn't mean anything at all. Clay had just been able to accept the fact that he liked guys, so maybe he didn't really want to kiss _Tony,_ maybe he just wanted to kiss a boy in general. That had to be it. There was no way he was actually starting to fall for him. No way at all.

He shoves his pencil bag and binder in his backpack and slings it across his shoulder as he heads out the door, Ethan right behind him.

"Hey!" He smiles at Clay. He instantly thinks of the comment Ethan had made to him earlier, and blushes. _Is it really so obvious that I'm not straight_ , he thought.

"Hey." He answer back as they weave their way through the crowded hallway. "How was your first day?"

"Pretty good. I like all my classes. And I even met a cute boy."

Clay glances at him with a slightly shocked expression. Ethan rolls his eyes in mock annoyance. " _You_."

So Clay being Clay, says something real cool like "Uh..ok."

Ethan chuckles. "Sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable. I just assumed you're..." He trails off, smiling so sweetly Clay all but melts into a puddle right there in the hallway.

"No, no you're fine. I...do like boys." He says it a little quietly, trying to look around nonchalantly in hopes that no one heard him. 

"Well that's great for me then."

They walk outside, the sunlight hitting Clay right in the face, and he puts a hand up to shield his eyes as he looks at Ethan, unsure if he should keep talking to him or go find Tony. 

"Can I get your number?" Ethan asks, and they walk to the side a little bit to get out of the way of the massive amount of students filtering out of the building.

Clay smiles shyly and nods, taking the phone from his outstretched hand. While he's typing in his number and name, he hears someone honk, and glances up; just about dying on the spot. There's Tony in his car, angry stare clearly evident though he's a good distance away. Ethan looks too, then looks back at Clay in confusion.

"Is that your boyfriend?" He asks in disappointment. 

Clay's pretty sure he's blushing even harder now. " _No_ , he's definitely not my boyfriend."

"Okay." Ethan agrees, though he still looks a little unsure.

"I gotta go." Clay says hurriedly, and hands the phone back to him, quickly heading to Tony's car. 

Tony speeds off as soon as he closes the door. He buckles his seat-belt, willing the blush on his cheeks to go away.

"Who was that?" Tony tries to ask in an uninterested tone, but it's obvious he's pissed, which just makes Clay even more puzzled. Why did Tony care who he was talking to? He'd made it pretty clear nothing was going to happen between them.

"Why?"

Tony grips the wheel harder. "It's just a question, Clay."

Clay stares at Tony, not knowing whether he should be happy or mad that Tony seems so bothered by him talking to another guy. "His name's Ethan, he's new. I had to show him around."

"Oh, I see, and did you  _have_ to give him your number too?" 

"Huh?" Clay asks incredulously. "Why does it matter that I gave him my number?"

"It doesn't." Tony says in a voice that makes it obvious it does. 

Clay huffs, leaning back into his seat. "Tony, you're the one who said there's nothing happening between us, so you have no right to get mad that I flirt with a guy."

Tony furrows his eyebrows, not looking away from the road. "You flirted with him?"

Clay bites his lip. "Okay, well  _he_ flirted with  _me_."

Tony doesn't say anything else, not even goodbye when they reach Clay's house. 

 

-

 

The first week back after the break passes by pretty quickly. It's Friday afternoon and Clay is now positive Tony has been ignoring him. He hasn't offered to give him any more rides and he ignores Clay's texts that he sends of pictures of his doodles and random emojis. It makes Clay upset, but confused more than anything. So he almost kissed him, and Tony told him they couldn't be more than just friends, and then when Clay flirts with another boy, okay is flirted  _with_ , he gets mad. It just didn't make sense. 

As soon as Clay opens the front door, his cell phone vibrates with a text. He's hoping it's Tony, but instead sees it's from Ethan. They'd texted back and forth a little every day, and this text said, ' _hey, you wanna hang out tomorrow night? catch a movie or smth?'_

Clay shuts the door behind him and types, ' _like a date_?'

The reply is almost instant. ' _if u want it to be. i'm hoping u do. :)'_

Clay hesitates for a moment, and then replies with,  _'ok. a date it is.'_

 


	6. Chapter 6

Clay stands in front of the bathroom mirror Saturday evening, running his hands through his hair. Maybe he should try to start putting product in it; it was always so lifeless and flat. But thinking of hair product makes Clay think of Tony, and he's been trying to avoid thinking of him. It hasn't really been working out so well; no matter what, he still finds himself unable to take his mind completely off of him. He was always there in the back of his mind. His smile with those pink lips and the way he said Clay's name and the way he fidgeted when he was nervous and the way crinkles formed by his twinkling brown eyes. He was so mesmerizing with his good looks and with how caring and thoughtful he always was. It was hard to believe a guy like Tony had ever been interested in a guy like Clay. If only he had known. Maybe then they would've had a shot.

He sighs, straightening his shirt. It was too late now. He should focus on Ethan; the guy who he actually had a chance with. 

"Mom, dad, I'm leaving!" He yells as he comes down the stairs.

"Have fun with your friend, honey." His mom smiles over her mountain of paperwork. He'd decided not to tell his parents he was actually going on a date. Maybe he'd work up the courage to tell them someday that he wasn't just interested in girls. 

"Thanks, mom." He kisses her cheek and heads to the door.

"You taking your bike?"

"I am." He nods.

His mom gives him a pointed look. "Be careful."

"Of course."

 

-

 

Ethan's already there, tickets in hand when Clay gets to the movie theater. Not the Crestmont where he used to work, but a different theater. He still hasn't been able to go there since he stopped working. He pulls his bike into the rack and locks it, heading over to where Ethan is waiting.

"Hey." He smiles. He's wearing a simple red, yellow, and orange stripped shirt with blue jeans; his hair a mess of curls. 

"Hey." Clay says back, already feeling nervous. He rarely ever went on dates, and this would be his first date with a boy. 

"So, I got the tickets. You said you were fine with horror?" 

"Yeah."

They go inside the theater, walking so close that their arms brush, but Ethan makes no move to hold his hand. Clay wonders if he's waiting for him to. He grazes his fingers along the back of Ethan's hand, and Ethan looks up at him, smiling with those dimples that make him even cuter. Ethan takes his hand. 

 _This isn't so bad_ ; he thought.  _I can be happy with him._

Clay follows Ethan to the back, away from where most of the other people are already seated.

"Is here okay?"

Clay smiles and nods. When they sit down, Ethan leans close to him and holds his hand again. It makes Clay blush just the smallest bit. Once the movie starts to play, Ethan eventually rests his head on Clay's shoulder. Whenever something mildly "scary" happens, Ethan jumps, so Clay puts an arm around his shoulder, which makes Ethan blush and curl into him closer. 

Once the movie ends, they wait until the room has mostly cleared out to leave. They hold hands again, and Clay is grateful there's no one he knows around. It's not that he's embarrassed to be seen with Ethan, it's just that he's not exactly ready for people to know he's bi. People already  _thought_ he might've been gay; imagine what they'd do if they  _knew_ he liked boys. Ethan walks with him to the bike rake, and right before Clay's about to let go, Ethan pulls him around to face him and kisses him. It's different than he expected. Not like kissing girls. His lips are still soft and the kiss is gentle, but also a little rough. Clay pulls back, smiling. 

 

-

 

It's now the following Monday. Clay is tying his shoes, the last one in the locker room. He's been purposely taking his time changing into his gym clothes to avoid having to run or play basketball or whatever stupid thing he's going to be forced to do. He hears the door from the hallway open, but doesn't look up. Suddenly, a pair of hands cover his eyes and he feels the panic rise. 

"Guess who?" A voice says, clearly Ethan's. He relaxes as Ethan removes his hands and pulls him up and turns him around.

Clay laughs as Ethan pushes him up against the row of lockers. "I missed you." He says.

"I just saw you Saturday." Clay blushes. 

"I know." Ethan leans up to kiss him, more firm than gentle, more demanding. He fists his fingers in Clay's t-shirt as he deepens their kiss. Clay grips Ethan's hips as he tries to match his intensity. Then Ethan's pulling back, kissing his neck. Clay moans the smallest bit, leaning his head to the side to give him better access. Ethan bites him lightly, then sucks the same spot on his skin. Clay rubs his hands up and down his sides, exhilarated and nervous all at once. It feels so good. 

Then he hears a door open again. The door from the gym. Clay and Ethan don't break apart at first, not until there's a loud and obnoxious throat clearing. Clay looks over towards the door, a deep blush filling his cheeks.

It's Tony. Tony who he hasn't seen in a week. Tony who's been ignoring him for unknown reasons and the sight of him; smoldering and angry, practically fuming, makes his heart ache. 

"Uh..." Ethan mumbles in embarrassment. 

 

 

 

(So this fic will probably only have 1 or 2 more chapters, thanks so much for those of you who have continued to read and have enjoyed it!)


	7. Chapter 7

Clay doesn't know what to do at first, so he just stands there, like an idiot, hands still loosely clutching Ethan. 

"Coach wants you in the gym." Tony says, obviously biting back whatever it is he really wants to say. " _Now_."

Ethan looks between the two of them in confusion, slowly stepping away from Clay. Tony still stands there, face red with anger. Clay doesn't think he's ever seen him so angry before. 

"Am I missing something here?" Ethan asks.

Clay gulps. Why is Tony so mad? Why did he care if he kissed a guy? 

"Listen, Clay, if this was your idea to make him jealous or whatever," Ethan grumbles, smoothing out his shirt and fixing his hair, "well, it worked."

"What? What do you mean?"

Ethan laughs. "It's pretty obvious. That angry look he gave us the first day I met you. And now he just waltzes in here...I mean look at his face right now. Hope you two lovebirds get back together. Bye." Ethan says rudely, storming out the door. 

"What was he talking about, Tony?" Clay asks; always so oblivious. 

Tony's face softens and he opens his mouth to say something, but pauses. "...Let's just go inside the gym." He says instead.

"Why can't you just talk to me, huh? You've been avoiding me for a week."

"I...I've just been busy."

"No! You haven't! You've been intentionally ignoring me and I wanna know why."

Before Tony can respond, and Clay doubts he would've responded with anything truthful, the door opens again. 

"Unless you boys would like a zero in the grade-book, I suggest you join the rest of us." The coach says and shuts the door. 

Tony stares at Clay for a moment, eyes soft and warm again, the anger gone from his face. He looks so sweet and handsome, Clay wants to touch him. Caress his cheek, maybe finally kiss those pink lips of his. But the moment is over and Tony turns to leave the locker room, so Clay follows.

"We're not done with this!"

 

-

 

As soon as seventh period ends, Clay is out the door as fast as lightning. He can't let Tony leave without talking to him. He's  _going_ to find out what the hell has been going on. 

"Tony!" He shouts, as he sees him getting into his car. Clay picks up his pace, and slides into the passenger side before he can pull off. 

Tony bites his lip, looking at him through the corner of his eye as he starts the car and eventually pulls out of the parking lot. 

"Tony, please talk to me."

But Tony's not saying anything. 

"Why do you seem to care so much? About me and Ethan? You have a boyfriend."

"I broke up with Brad last week." Tony says, not taking his eyes off of the road.

"You-you what? Why?"

"Why do you think?" Tony asks, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. Which it probably was. Everything seemed so obvious except to Clay. He was the biggest clueless idiot in the world. 

"I honestly don't know, Tony."

"Because of  _you_."

Clay's cheeks heat up and he smiles slightly. "Me? Why?" Did Tony actually...like him? Still like him? Did he like Tony? And staring at him as they drive towards Clay's house, he knows he does. He has for some time now.

"You tried to kiss me." Tony says simply. 

"I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be. I would've kissed you back...but I needed time alone. To think."

"And what have you thought about?"

Tony pulls off to the side of the road. They're in Clay's neighborhood, about four streets away. "That I would very much like to kiss you."

Clay tries to hide his shock as Tony surges forward, pressing his lips against his. And it's exactly like he thought it'd be; Tony's lips are soft and he kisses him with a gentleness that's mixed with a certain amount of intensity that can only come from deep passion. It's everything he thought it would be and more. Some time later, he isn't sure how long, Tony starts the car again and drives the rest of the way to Clay's house. 

 

 

 

(Okay so I'll probably write one more chapter after this! Hope you guys have liked this fic and will enjoy others I will write in the future!)


	8. Chapter 8

The rest of the week, Clay felt like he was on cloud nine. Tony gave him a ride to and from school everyday, and although they didn't hold hands or anything in public, they did sneak off at least once a day during class to make out in the handicapped bathroom stall. It might've sounded pretty gross, but Tony made him forget all about where they were when his lips were on Clay's. It was now the weekend again, and Clay had woken up Saturday morning from a text from Tony that said he'd be picking him up at noon. He didn't say where they were going and when he asked, Tony wouldn't say; which kind of made him even more excited.

He came down the stairs two at a time; Tony would be here any minute.

"Where you running off to?" His dad asks, coming out of the kitchen with a mug in his hand.

"Going off with Tony." He said, stopping by the staircase and feeling slightly embarrassed as he looked sheepishly at his dad. 

"Oh, and where are you boys going?" He asked with an amused smile on his face. His dad had probably picked up on what was going on with him and Tony, seeing as how he'd barged into the Clay's bedroom, right when they were about to kiss. 

"Don't know." Clay shrugs. "Tony says it's a surprise." They usually only ever hung out at each other's houses, Monet's, or Eisenhower Park, so Clay was anxious to find out what Tony had planned for them. 

"Well, hope you two have fun." His dad smiles, winks, and then walks to his study.

Clay blushes as he walks out the door. He waits for a minute, maybe two, and then Tony pulls up in his Mustang. He slides into the car, pecking Tony's lips and then buckles his seat belt. "So, you gonna finally tell me where we're going?"

Tony smiles at him, brown eyes twinkling as usual, making his heart melt. "You'll see."

 

- 

 

It's the cliff. Tony has taken him to the cliff. They park and Tony goes to the trunk, pulling out a big thick blanket and a basket. It was a picnic. Only Tony would do something so cliche and cheesy. Clay loves it. 

"You want me to carry something?" Clay asks, smiling affectionately at his boyfriend. They haven't made it "official" or anything, but Clay doesn't think they really need to. It's just kind of an unspoken thing between them. They cared so much about each other, and they'd both waited enough time pretending like they didn't have feelings for one another. They didn't have a period where things were awkward because it was a new relationship. None of it felt awkward. It just felt like the way things were always supposed to be. 

"No, I got it mi amor." Tony smiles back at him, leaning up to give him a quick kiss before they head up the trail. 

Clay helps Tony spread the blanket out once they get to the top, and they sit down. He opens the basket and in it is filled with ham and cheese sandwiches, sodas, and a wide assortment of fruit. They eat and talk about general things a little, but it's mostly quiet. Tony was the only person who he could sit through long periods of silence with and have it no be weird or awkward at all. He just liked being with him, even if they weren't talking. 

Once they finish eating and pack away the rest back in the basket, Clay scoots over next to Tony and leans against him, Tony wrapping his arms around him and letting Clay snuggle in close. He doesn't think he's ever been so happy with anyone else before. Things weren't perfect, he knew they never would be, and he'd never expected him and Tony to be together, but everything just felt like it was right. Okay. Clay felt okay, and he hadn't felt that way in a long time. 

"Hey,  _soñador_ ," Tony runs his fingers along Clay's arm, staring at him after some time later. He isn't sure how long he'd been zoning out, just laying against Tony and enjoying the sight afternoon breeze and the nice view. "What're you thinking about?"

"I think there's a full moon tonight." Clay says. "Do you want to look at it with me?" The sun wouldn't be going down for hours, but Clay felt like he could lay there in Tony's arms for the rest of his life. 

Tony smiles at him. "I would love to look at the moon with you."

 

 

 

(So, yeah! I just wanted to give ya'll a cute little ending! Sorry there wasn't any real or interesting plot to this story. You guys can send me prompts for headcannons, one-shots, or multi-chapter fics on my tumblr, my username is the same as on here! Thanks so much for reading!)

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think!


End file.
